Columns are widely used in both residential and commercial buildings. Until recently, most columns used in residential construction have been made from wood. Molded columns, however, have some advantages over traditional wood columns and have been gaining in popularity. Some of the advantages of molded columns include lower costs, a wider variety of designs, and improved structural strength.
One technique for making molded columns is centrifugal molding. A viscous resin material is poured into an elongated mold having two parts. The mold is spun at high speed to force the molding material against the inner surface of the mold. When the molding material has set, the mold is opened and the column is removed.
One drawback to centrifugal molding is that the mold leaves two longitudinally extending seam lines or ridges where the mold separates. The seam lines or ridges must be removed to provide a smooth exterior surface. Typically, the seam line or ridge is removed by manually sanding the column. However, the manual sanding of molded columns is time consuming and labor intensive. The time and labor needed to sand the column translates into higher cost and lower production.